On Again, Off Again | Jikook

Chapter 5: Alas, the Jenga Tower Collapses

Jungkook

"Hi there, big boy." A woman purred, sliding down to sit next to me. She traced a vein on my hand with one of her long nails that was so intricate, it was distracting. Her scent made me scrunch my nose up and I quickly retracted my hand.

I stared at her while cradling the hand she touched in the other. My lips formed a pout and I pointed to the ring on my finger.

"Jeon Jungkook is a taken alpha."

"Well, I don't see a mating mark." She pressed. "It seems like one of those repellents people use when they don't want to be bothered by the uglies."

"What?"

"Well, I don't see this supposed partner with you."

I lit up. "Although I don't like that you're calling me a liar, I appreciate the use of the gender-neutral term, 'partner!' Can you tell that I'm gay? That's amazing. I'm so gay." I giggled. "I'm so gay that I used to have a gay hookup partner, but we were both gay the wrong way! Well, I'm bi. That means I like multiple genders. That includes non-binary people and trans people. Also, bi doesn't mean two in this situation. Isn't that interesting? I read this thing called the bisexual manifesto and was like woah. Also, my boyfriend was experimenting with gender and pronouns for a bit, but he realized that he didn't have to use different pronouns or be a certain gender to dress how he likes. That's the difference between gender identity and gender expression, you know?"

She gawked at me. "Huh?"

"I love being called a housewife. But I also like house-spouse because rhyming makes things so tingly and fun. However, sometimes, it's hard to find gender neutral terms. Like what's the gender neutral term for aunt/uncle? I say auncle. Some people say 'pibling,' as in 'parent's sibling,' but that one sounds kinda gross."

"Umm... okay."

My eyes teared up and I started to cry. "Person, do you ever just remember the systemic issues both non-men and omegas face in the workplace and cry? What if I have an omega daughter with Minie?"

"I gotta go."

"Wait, don't you agree sex workers should unionize?!"

Taehyung stood in front of me. "For a fucking tank, you're sneaky."

I giggled. "Tae, hey."

He crossed his arms.

"Have you ever contemplated how you would write your name using the romanized alphabet? Would you hyphenate? Would you use a space? Would you have it altogether? Would you have it altogether, but also capitalizing the first letter of the second syllable? I think I would do it with a space."

Taehyung stepped closer.

"You're such a nice friend. That psych dude said I didn't have any friends, but I have so many! It's like my own pack, my own family. You can tell by how happy people are when I get them drinks." I smiled. "Next round is—"

Taehyung quickly covered my mouth, the beta largely fed up. "Jungkook, it's late as hell and you're fucking wasted. Also, stop buying drinks for people who don't know you. They don't like you, just what you can do for them. Plus, how are you even paying for all of this?"

I paused, blinking. Humming, I grabbed my wallet and pulled out my card. "With my card, duh!"

His eyes widened. "J-Jungkook, why does that debit card have your boyfriend's name on it?" His skin grew pale. "Isn't that for emergencies only?"

Shit.

"I think I'm gonna be sick." I rushed to the bathroom and threw up in the stall, the contents mostly just liquid because I hadn't had much to eat that day, if anything.